The following is a letter to the community from Margaret Martonosi (Assistant Director) and JD Kundu (Deputy Assistant Director) of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE).

Dear NSF CISE Community,

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is an important but, from our experience, an often overlooked funding opportunity for the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) community.  The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported areas who are pursuing full-time, research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions.  As the deadline of October 19, 2021, approaches for applicants who fall within CISE fields of study, we want to be sure you all – as members of our community – are aware of this opportunity for your undergraduate seniors and beginning graduate students.

GRFP is NSF’s oldest program, dating to the Foundation’s first fully funded year of 1952.  Since then, GRFP has supported tens of thousands of US citizens, nationals, and permanent residents to pursue advanced degrees in science and engineering.  Among its alumni are over 40 Nobel laureates, hundreds of members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, thousands of science and engineering faculty, and many leaders in industry, government, and the non-profit sector.

Each year, GRFP awards are offered to thousands of applicants.  Some institutions offer support through application development programs (e.g., the University of Arizona), essay insights (e.g., the University of Missouri), workshops (e.g., the University of Utah) and other resources (e.g., the University of Iowa) – and others even require incoming graduate students to write GRFP proposals.

We’d like to encourage you to make your CISE undergraduate seniors and beginning graduate students aware of this significant source of support – and the many benefits of the program, which include the following:

For students:

– More freedom in choosing research topics;

– More time to conduct research;

– Greater choice of research advisors;

– Prestige of the fellowship, which can lead to future opportunities; and

– Guaranteed support for a period of time in a graduate student’s career.

And for institutions:

– High-quality graduate students selected by an independent competitive process;

– Financial support; and

– Prestige – fellowship recipients enhance institutions’ national images.

Additional information on the program may be found at https://www.nsf.gov/grfp and http://www.nsfgrfp.org.

We’d also like to encourage you, as members of the CISE research community, to volunteer to review GRFP applications. If you would like to serve as a GRFP reviewer, you can signal your interest by registering here:  https://www.nsfgrfpreviewers.org/  

Thanks as always for your help and engagement with NSF programs.

Best,

Margaret and JD

Margaret Martonosi, Assistant Director (AD) of NSF for CISE

JD Kundu, Deputy AD of NSF for CISE